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Rational Review News Digest / Freedom News Daily - Formula 1 cancels races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia amid Middle East conflict
Source: Politico
“Formula 1 has canceled races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia scheduled for April, as the ongoing war between Iran and the U.S. and Israel disrupts international sports throughout the Middle East. … The grands prix, marquee events at the top of the F1 calendar, were scheduled to be the fourth and fifth races of the season, which kicked off during the first weekend of March in Melbourne. Last year, both were won by Australian driver Oscar Piastri, who rode a strong start in the campaign to a third-place finish in the F1 season standings. Iran targeted both Gulf countries in the early days of the conflict in a retaliatory campaign that saw Tehran take shots at Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Iraq, Jordan, Turkey, Cyprus and Israel.” (03/14/26)
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/14/formula-1-cancels-races-middle-east-00829213
- Trinidad and Tobago: Regime extends state of emergency for three months over crime
Source: Seattle Times
“Trinidad and Tobago’s government has received House of Representatives approval to extend a state of emergency for three months, as the twin-island Caribbean nation struggles with a high level of crime. The two motions to extend the measure, which grants the government additional powers, including to make arrests and conduct searches without warrants, were approved in a 26-12 vote late Friday. There were no abstentions. Trinidad and Tobago has spent roughly 10 of the last 14 months under an emergency.” (03/14/26)
- Wine Says He has Left Uganda
Source: US News & World Report
“Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine said he has temporarily left the country after two months in hiding in the wake of a presidential election in January that kept long‑time leader Yoweri Museveni in office. Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, disputed the outcome of that contest, alleging fraud, and had been in hiding since fleeing his home in Uganda’s capital Kampala. In a five-minute video message posted on X on Saturday, Wine said he had left the country for ‘critical engagements outside Uganda,’ without specifying where he was or what the engagements were. ‘At the right time I will come back and continue with the cause,’ he said. The pop star‑turned‑politician has said his campaign was constrained by security forces blocking his rallies and arresting his supporters.” (03/15/26)
- Libertarian Activist Abducted by Regime Thugs Following Return From Egypt
Source: Independent Political Report
“A libertarian activist from Orlando with a history of volunteering with the Libertarian Party of Florida is being held in federal immigration custody and facing possible deportation to Egypt, according to details shared with Independent Political Report. A friend of Aly who has remained in contact with him during his detention told IPR on Friday that Izzy Aly, also known as Islam Mahmoud Aly, was [abducted] by officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on December 22 after arriving at a U.S. airport following a trip to Egypt, where he had traveled to settle matters related to his late father’s estate. … Aly, an Egyptian national who resides in the Orlando area, has been active for several years in libertarian political circles, including by attending meetings of the Libertarian Party of Florida to support the party’s activities.” (03/14/26)
- The Ghost of Ali Shariati Dances with the Epstein Empire
Source: exile in happy valley
by Nicky Reid“Two things happened the week before Trump finally decided to end his will-he-won’t-he relationship with regime change in Iran. The first is that Benjamin Netanyahu told the Donald that Israel was going to whack the Ayatollah with or without him and that the results would be identical either way. Iran would retaliate by dumping literal tons of drones on the American bases that encircle it throughout the region and Trump would be duty bound to prove his manhood with blood. The other telltale thing that happened that week was that evidence surfaced from the heavily redacted Epstein Files that appears to show multiple sources corroborating the failed lawsuit of Katy Johnson; an anonymous plaintiff who accused our current president of raping her with Jeffrey Epstein at his side and then threatening to murder her if she spoke.” (03/15/26)
https://exileinhappyvalley.blogspot.com/2026/03/the-ghost-of-ali-shariati-dances-with.html
- Don’t Bite the Hand That Feeds You
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Kimberlee Josephson“There is a peculiar irony in modern American consumer culture: we celebrate abundance, low prices, and convenience — until we decide to sue the businesses that make those things possible. Somewhere along the way, buyer beware — a principle as old as markets themselves — has been replaced with the belief that disappointment equates with legal injury. Disputes over marketing messages and lawsuits about the labeling of menu items shows that some patrons are eager to become plaintiffs. Recent skirmishes over chicken are a case in point.” (03/15/26)
- How McDonald’s “epic fail” turned into a surprise marketing win
Source: Washington Post
by Megan McArdle“Sure, we were laughing at him. But every reaction video or parody drove home the message that McDonald’s has a big new burger on the market, a message I’d never have heard if I hadn’t seen so many people making fun of the CEO. I would have eaten a Big Arch for dinner tonight — for research purposes, of course — if my column-writing duties hadn’t chained me to my desk. Such viral moments are marketing gold and at a bargain price — however much McDonald’s spent making that video, it probably only amounted to a fraction of the cost of producing a traditional ad, much less of blasting it into our consciousness in a prime time loop. Corporate America’s problem is that such moments are wildly unpredictable. If you want brand awareness on the cheap, you are dependent on the kindness (or more likely, unkindness) of strangers.” (03/15/26)
- The Ethics of Limit
Source: Center for a Stateless Society
by Tommaso Biagi“Every civilization — flawless, perfect in composition and intention — exists atop a quiet contradiction: We love freedom. We suffer domination. We justify it as ‘necessary authority,’ ‘the public order,’ ‘the social contract.’ We accept prisons ‘for safety,’ wage labour ‘for development,’ psychiatric coercion ‘for health.’ It’s the same ball game. A minority suffers, the majority lives ‘better.’ But better for whom? The one screaming in agony and the one smiling in comfort do not feel the sum. No one consciousness feels the totality. The ‘greater good’ is the fiction written by those for whom it works.” (03/15/26)
- The Trouble with Trump’s Maritime Action Plan
Source: Independent Institute
by Caleb Petitt“The White House recently released America’s Maritime Action Plan (MAP) to revitalize America’s maritime industry. It proposes a variety of regulatory modifications, subsidies, government financing options, and fees to encourage domestic shipbuilding. Although it includes a wide variety of proposals, two of them, when taken together, show the Trump administration’s hostility to free trade, as well as a general naïveté about the plan. The first is the proposed ‘universal fee’ on foreign-built ships; the second is the proposed regulatory change to the definition of a ‘U.S.-built’ ship.” (03/15/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/03/15/the-trouble-with-trumps-maritime-action-plan/
- Blame Trump
Source: Free Association
by Sheldon Richman“What’s with all the people who are trying to blame someone — you probably know who — other than Trump for the U.S. air war against Iran? Has he no agency? He’s had it in for Iran for a long time and nearly went to war in his first term, setting the stage by tearing up the rigorous (and superfluous) nuclear-inspection deal the Iranian government had entered into with Trump’s immediate predecessor, Barack Obama. (Iran has not tried to make a nuclear weapon, according to U.S. and Israeli intelligence analysis, and the late Iranian leader, Ali Khamenei, had issued a fatwa against such weapons.) … This is Trump’s war. Claiming that Israel is solely responsible and that Trump is a helpless marionette is invidious and could incite horrendous domestic consequences. That prospect should not be taken lightly.” (03/13/26)
- “But Kamala!” Yeah, So What?
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp“‘They told me if I voted for Goldwater in 1964,’ William F. Buckley, Jr. allegedly (but not verifiably) once said, ‘that we’d have more war and higher prices. Well, I did, and we do.’ In the run-up to the 2024 presidential election, supporters of Donald Trump delivered similar dire predictions about voting for Kamala Harris. And in the aftermath? The last two words of the apocryphal Buckley quote ring true as well. For some reason, those who still support Trump seem to think that ‘but Kamala! If SHE’D won, we’d have had [insert list of bad things that have happened since anyway here]!’ is some kind of sick burn on those who preferred the empty pantsuit to the senile reality TV star.” (03/14/26)
- In Space, Regulators Seek To Boldly Go Where No Bureaucrat Has Gone Before
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille“The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) faces delays in meeting its schedule for returning to the Moon, according to a new report by the agency’s inspector general. Nevertheless, the project moves forward and remains largely within its budget — a testament to the abilities of SpaceX and Blue Origin, the two private companies participating. In fact, space exploration is largely a private effort these days, with profit-seeking firms developing not just launch capability but also technology for mining Earth’s natural satellite. Unfortunately, opening new commercial opportunities — even in the depths of outer space — is like ringing the dinner bell for bureaucrats and would-be regulators.” (03/13/26)
- Russia Wins the War on Iran
Source: The American Conservative
by Ted Snider“Nobody wins at war. In the war on Iran, fought without legal justification and without good reason, bringing devastation to lives, the economy, international law, and the environment, there are certainly no winners. But, though there are no winners in the long run, if there is one country that benefits in the short run, it is Russia.” (03/14/16)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/russia-wins-the-war-on-iran/
- Most Americans oppose Trump’s war — with one glaring exception
Sourc: USA Today
by Chris Brennan“Trump campaigned in 2024 for a second term on promises of ending foreign wars and improving America’s economy. And now he’s done the complete opposite. In fact, Trump has done exactly what he claimed President Joe Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris would do if they held onto the White House. A March 12 CNN summary of recent public opinion polling about the war in Iran shows that a majority of Americans oppose it, though voters are divided along party lines, with Democrats and independents far more likely to not support the war and Republicans more likely to support it. But MAGA, a populist movement allegedly built on an urge for American isolationism and an aversion to regime change and nation building abroad, has effortlessly dumped those supposed principles and flip-flopped into a rabid band of war-hungry neocons.” (03/15/26)
- Students and AI: Mastery, not misuse
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff“It took several decades for students’ individual computer access to become the norm in American schools. But it’s taken only about three years for the share of students using artificial intelligence in school assignments to go from zero to 84%. At the same time, according to a 2025 report by the College Board, only 13% of schools encouraged using such generative AI in all their classes, while 1 in 5 had no policies governing its use. Educators are racing to keep pace with and use AI in ways that safeguard students’ educational interests and support vibrant classroom relationships. There is concern about repeating what some see as the ‘mistakes’ of having allowed students unlimited access to phones and social media. But blanket restrictions on AI in schools could be counterproductive, given that it infuses almost every aspect of daily commerce and communication – and is also shaping emerging career paths.” (03/13/26)
https://www.csmonitor.com/Editorials/the-monitors-view/2026/0313/Students-and-AI-Mastery-not-misuse
- Marco Rubio Gets Western Civilization’s Defining Feature All Wrong
Source: The UnPopulist
by Francis Fukuyama“Liberal Enlightenment principles, not Christian faith, became the West’s lasting identity.” (03/14/26)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/marco-rubio-gets-western-civilizations
- How to Bring Starter Homes Back from Extinction
Source: Cato Institute
by staff“If you want to understand why the American starter home seems to have gone extinct, don’t look at greedy developers, rapacious investors or discriminating banks. Look at the government policies that make building these homes all but impossible. New research puts hard numbers on one part of the problem — and they’re staggering.” (03/13/26)
https://www.cato.org/commentary/how-bring-starter-homes-back-extinction
- Israel And Its Supporters Are Causing Attacks On Jewish Institutions
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone“Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt gave a bizarre appearance on CNN in response to an attempted car bombing of a Michigan synagogue by a man whose Lebanese family members were killed by Israeli forces: ‘We are seeing Jewish people, the Jewish state, blamed for the war in the Middle East. That is wrong. It is wrong to scapegoat, it is wrong to hold Jewish people accountable for something you don’t like on the other side of the planet.’ … at first glance it this might read like Greenblatt is taking the entirely reasonable position that it is wrong to blame Jewish Americans for the actions of the Israeli government. But take a closer look at his use of the phrase ‘the Jewish state.'” [editor’s note: The cause of an attack is the attacker and the attacker’s intent, full stop. The Israeli regime is responsible for its actions and its actions only – TLK](03/14/26)
- Why Dems Keep Saying Trump Has “No Plan” Instead of Calling to End the War With Iran
Source: The Intercept
by Adam Johnson“By rallying behind process-based critiques, the Democrats are refusing to stand against the war on moral grounds.” (03/13/26)
https://theintercept.com/2026/03/13/iran-war-democrats-schumer-jeffries/
- The Trump War Glossary: What He *Really* Means About Iran
Source: The Bulwark
by Will Saletan“Keeping up with Mr. ‘I Have the Best Words’ as he twists the English language.” (03/13/26)
- In War, the Enemy Always Gets a Vote
Source: The Atlantic
by Philips Payson O’Brien“When Trump went to war with Iran, he made the same assumption that Vladimir Putin had in invading Ukraine four years earlier. Each believed that his nation’s superior weaponry and military experience would crush any opposition that the target government could muster. … Initially, the air campaign achieved everything Trump could have hoped for. The U.S. and Israel quickly gained air supremacy over Iran and now have the ability to hit almost any target they choose. They succeeded in killing much of Iran’s top leadership, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei. Yet ever since, the limits of Trump’s ability to control the situation have become clearer and clearer.” (03/13/26)
- How a first-grader taught her school district and a federal judge about free speech
Source: The Hill
by Jonathan Turley“In March 2021, California principal Jesus Becerra was confronted by a clear and present threat to his school. Standing before him was the culprit — a student apparently so dangerous that Becerra had to act without delay to protect the entire Viejo Elementary School in the Capistrano Unified School District. The little girl is known only as B.B. in federal filings, but her actions were so heinous that a parent alerted Becerra to take all necessary action. Beccera showed B.B. the incriminating evidence: a picture of children holding hands with the words ‘any life’ written under ‘Black Lives Matter.'” (03/14/26)
https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/5783916-california-principal-threat-black-lives/
- The despicable disgrace of the “call off the war” crowd
Source: New York Post
by staff“We’d like to believe that the negative coverage of the Iran war so rampant in the media is simply more Trump Derangement Syndrome, but it’s plainly also about how the president’s firm actions expose how pathetically the same elites applauded President Barack Obama’s misbegotten Middle East policies, and not just his sad nuclear deal with Tehran. To simplify things, consider The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg, the dean of elite liberal political analysis, who’s actively sneering at the joint US-Israeli effort to defang an entity that for five decades has called them ‘The Great Satan’ and ‘The Little Satan.’ … the two nations took out Tehran’s nuclear program last year, as it was weeks from producing usable weapons, and they’ve acted before it could rebuild its defenses and offensive conventional forces to shield it as it recovered that capability.” [editor’s note: Are unlimited hallucinogens a formally codified office benefit at the Post, or is their use during work hours merely tolerated? … – TLK] (03/13/26)
https://nypost.com/2026/03/13/opinion/the-despicable-disgrace-of-the-call-off-the-war-crowd/
- Hollywood’s Hellscape
Source: Law & Liberty
by Joseph Holmes“This year’s Oscars give Americans few reasons to have hope for the future.” (03/13/26)
- How Trans Activism Became So Radical
Source: Persuasion
by Jamie Paul“The trans movement won the lottery. Then they lost it all.” (03/13/26)
https://www.persuasion.community/p/how-trans-activism-became-so-radical
- Questions for Markwayne Mullin
Source: The Watch
by Radley Balko“Kristi Noem has been the worst head of Homeland Security in the department’s 20-year history, and it really isn’t even close. Her tenure was marked by reckless abuse of power, brazen lying and disinformation, white supremacist propaganda, and shameless corruption. Prior to Noem, we had never seen a cabinet official shoot a propaganda/weird fetish video from a foreign prison known for torture and abuse. Prior to Noem, we’d …. never seen a cabinet official celebrate the illegal killing of unarmed U.S. citizens. … Trump’s nominee to replace Noem is Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin, a mixed-martial-arts fighter turned plumber turned politician. Mullin is probably best known for challenging a witness at an oversight hearing to a fight, jamming his fingers into the nostrils of sleeping colleagues and their spouses, and projecting so much masculinity that he requires the names of two men.” (03/13/26)
https://radleybalko.substack.com/p/questions-for-markwayne-mullin
- Time to Grow Out of “Playing War”
Source: Common Dreams
by Robert C Koehler“Boys will be boys. Just ask the president. At a gathering of Republicans a few days ago, Donald Trump talked nonchalantly about the recent sinking of an apparently unarmed Iranian frigate by the US Navy — in the Indian Ocean, more than 2,000 miles from the Persian Gulf. A total of 104 crew members were killed and 32 more were injured. The president proceeded to make this more than merely another brutal, pointless act of war. He turned it into a glaring (shocking) revelation of truth … about the American-Israeli war on Iran and, quite possibly about all wars: about war itself.” [editor’s note: “That enemy warship, headed toward the theater of operations, was ‘apparently unarmed,’ may be the dumbest claim I’ve seen from either side of the debate over this conflict – TLK] (03/14/26)
- Is Trump Building “Concentration Camps?” These Experts Have No Doubts
Source: The Contrarian
by Tim Dickinson“Donald Trump’s brutal ICE detention facilities have been blasted as ‘concentration camps.’ This is a freighted term — summoning more than a century of deplorable history. But experts in the field have no hesitation in using these words to describe the network of facilities that the federal government is using to literally warehouse tens of thousands of immigrants — men, women, and even children — snatched out of their communities by masked federal agents.” (03/13/26)
https://www.contrariannews.org/p/is-trump-building-concentration-camps
- Examination Systems
Source: David Friedman’s Substack
by David Friedman“For well over a thousand years, the civil service of Imperial China, the officials who ran the empire, was principally selected from those who had successfully passed through a series of ferociously competitive exams. Passing the first level gave one the rank of licentiate, which carried with it status and the right to take the second level of exams. Passing the second (‘provincial’) provided a significant chance of eventual appointment to office as well as the opportunity to take the third level of exam (‘metropolitan’). Passing the third level was a near guarantee of official appointment. … It may have occurred to you that Imperial China is not the only society whose elite members are expected to qualify for high-status positions by studying for, and passing, exams on subjects having little or nothing to do with the positions they are qualifying for.” (03/14/26)
- The Enemy Is Power, Wherever You Find It
Source: Liberalism.org
by Matt Zwolinski“Concentrations of power are a danger, and a liberal society must reckon with them wherever they occur.” (03/13/26)
https://www.liberalism.org/p/the-enemy-is-power-wherever-you-find-it
- The Brian Nichols Show, 03/15/26
Source: Lions of Liberty
“More School Funding, Worse Results? | Here’s Why.” (03/15/26)
https://www.lionsofliberty.com/episodes/tbns-more-school-funding-worse-results-heres-why
- The Kyle Anzalone Show, 03/15/26
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Harrison Berger: Will Trump Draft Americans for Israel’s War in Iran? Did Iran Try To Kill Trump?” (03/15/26)
- Zooming In, 03/15/26
Source: The UnPopulist
“Manosphere Men Want a Society That Loves Them For Their Vices: A Conversation With Toby Buckle.” (03/15/26)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/manosphere-men-want-a-society-that
- Unattended Baggage, episode 332
Sourc: Unattended Baggage
“What did you THINK was gonna happen?” (03/14/26)
https://unattendedbaggage.substack.com/p/episode-332-what-did-you-think-was
- The Lou Perez Podcast, 03/14/26
Source: Lions of Liberty
“Taking Down Ticketmaster w/ Tommy Dorfman.” (03/14/26)
https://www.lionsofliberty.com/episodes/tlpp-taking-down-ticketmaster-w-tommy-dorfman
- The Bulwark Podcast, 03/13/26
Source: The Bulwark
“JD Vance Knows the Iran War Is a Disaster — But Can’t Say It (w/ Tom Nichols) | The Bulwark Podcast.” (03/13/26)
- The Good Fight, 03/14/26
Source: Yascha Mounk
“Adrian Wooldridge on the Lost Genius of the Political Center.” (03/14/26)
- The Kyle Anzalone Show, 03/14/26
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Trump Demands Iran’s UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER.” (03/14/26)
- AI Summer, 03/14/26
Source: AI Summer
“Joel Becker on METR’s famous time horizons chart.” (03/14/26)